Investing.com – U.S. futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, as investors wait for the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 futures inched forward over half a point or 0.03% as of 6:53 AM ET (11:53 AM GMT) while Dow futures rose 31 points or 0.13%. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased over two and a half points or 0.05%.
The latest meeting minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee are released at 2:00 PM ET (7:00 PM GMT). Investors will closely pore over the minutes for any indication as to whether or not the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the coming months and what it thinks of the health of the U.S. economy.
The top gainers in pre-market trading included financial institution HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) PLC ADR (NYSE:HSBC), which gained 1.28%, payment processing company Square Inc (NYSE:SQ), which rose 2.02%, and manufacturing firm Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), which surged 4.08% after reporting higher than expected earnings results.
Elsewhere, pharmaceutical firm Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA) slipped 0.98%, while health and nutrition firm GNC Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNC)was down 3.97% and Chinese microlender Qudian Inc (NYSE:QD) decreased 6.67%.
In economic news, jobless claims and durable goods orders come out at 8:30 AM ET (1:30 PM GMT), followed by consumer sentiment at 10:00 AM ET (3:00 PM GMT).
Stocks in Europe were mixed. Germany’s DAX fell 38 points or 0.30% while in France the CAC 40 increased over three and a half points or 0.07% and in London, the FTSE 100 inched forward 28 points or 0.38%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 rose four points or 0.12% while Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 66 points or 0.67%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.23% to $1,284.65 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 1.78% to $57.84 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.17% to 93.73.